Shady accountants help clients falsify income in order to claim the credits, then charge exorbitant fees for the “service.” Self-employed filers also inflate their income with little chance of getting caught. Everyone’s red flags are flapping, but the hole just keeps getting bigger. The Internal Revenue Service can identify “erroneous” claims, but it doesn’t currently have any authority to do anything to rectify them.

Instead of stopping the rip-offs, the Obama administration has fueled an entire industry of illegal immigration vultures gaming the already fraud-plagued system.

In addition to blanket deportation waivers and work permits, Obama’s executive amnesty orders extended EITC eligibility (retroactive to the last three tax years) to the so-called Dreamers and their parents. It’s a proven recipe for bamboozlement. Illegal immigrants using individual taxpayer identification numbers have scammed another refundable tax credit program the Additional Child Tax Credit, to the tune of $4.2 billion a year, according to tax watchdogs. Average ACTC monthly payments to eligible families are about $1,800. Average EITC monthly payments to eligible families hover around $3,000.

The duo was assisted by several naturalized citizens in Tennessee who obtained phony Mexican, Honduran and Guatemalan IDs, prepared fake tax returns, and operated check-cashing businesses for Hispanic customers collecting hefty tax refunds. According to federal indictment documents, the conspiracy raked in 2,400 bogus refund checks between January 2012 and November 2014 totaling $10.8 million.

A hand up for the working poor has morphed into a cash cow for grifters from around the world. Economists add that the well-intentioned program has paved a path to reduced work incentives, lower wages and distorted family decisions (married couples are penalized).

When the enormous costs of such tax code social engineering outweigh the benefits in an era of unfettered open borders, it’s time to pull the plug.